The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has noted that Malawi is not quite ready for e-commerce, as outlined in a recent report.

The report has explained that Malawi faces challenges that hinder the improvement/implementation of reliable and consistent e-commerce; part of the report reads, “The main challenges include the population’s lack of trust in online systems, low level of Internet access by the population, low technology adoption by firms, lack of access to financing and weak IT skills across the population,”.

Meanwhile, the country bemoans expensive Internet charges, while the access to Internet is mostly in the urban population which is only below 40% of the total population in Malawi. On the other hand, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo), has ranked Malawi as the third most innovative low-income countries. According to a report by Wipo, the ranking has also involved economic and regulatory spheres which directly impact a country’s level of innovation and vice versa, as innovation in turn becomes an economic driver, stimulating further investment.